Face of the Day: Beautiful You Australia 2013

Photo-heavy. That would be one word to describe this post if I included the haul that I got last weekend. So, to make it easier, I've decided to split this behemoth into two posts: FOTD and Haul. That way, if you want to see what I did for my makeup, you can take a look here -- and if you're more interested in what I bought and thought, keep an eye out! Easy, am I right?

On Saturday I went to the first-ever Beautiful You Australia expo in Melbourne! I was so excited to go and check it out, and I got cheaper tickets for my mum and I because of a code that I got at Oz Comic-Con earlier in the year. (On a side note: I had 100% meant to write FOTD and OOTD posts about OCC, but it just took me so long that... it clearly never happened and in the end I gave up.) Of course, I felt a little under pressure to come up with a really sweet makeup look -- but that's kind of to be expected when you run a makeup blog, even once that's about how generally clueless you are about makeup.

Gotta have a funny-faced car selfie.

But if you'd like to see the pink-coppery girly look that I came up with, let's get into it!

This is my face sans makeup. The "Before" shot, if you will. I had to get up pretty early on the day, so I wasn't able to take photos of me doing my makeup as I was doing it -- which is what I normally do. I had to recreate it today, so my skin doesn't feel quite as polished as it did on the day -- but we've got the photos to show us, either way.

The first thing I did was use my Elizabeth Arden Flawless Future Moisture Cream, which is pretty much just a super expensive moisturiser meant to be used by young people. It claims to be anti-aging and all that -- but really, I don't think we'll ever really know if it works well or not. I really like how hydrated and soft it makes my skin feel, I love it for that reason.

After that, I waded in with the Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer, because of the redness I had from breakouts on my skin. Whenever someone asks me about this primer, I always say that I'm not very keen -- which is odd, really, because I've been reaching for it a lot lately. It does ghost the face a little bit, but I don't have a problem with that, given that I'm putting foundation over the top. Two pumps of this is enough for me!

Then comes foundation. Today's pick was the normal one: MAC Studio Fix Fluid SPF15 Liquid Foundation in "NW20". I know that this lasts all day with the Hourglass Primer, so I knew that it would be get me through the entirety of the event. I buffed this into my skin with the Real Techniques Multi-Task Brush, which, unfortunately, you can only get if you buy this set. It does the job quickly and cleanly, and I've never had to worry about line marks!

While I wait for my foundation to set -- the eyes! The first thing I did was slather on some of the ol' Benefit Stay Don't Stray eye shadow primer. This is an expensive primer, and at first I wasn't too keen on it, but I actually now think it's well worth the money. I prefer it to the Too Faced Shadow Insurance, I think because it does actually give you some coverage over your eyelids, so I worry less about the colours showing up. If you're on a budget, you could stick with a bit of foundation, although I've heard that concealer works as well.

Next, I took the Maybelline Color Tattoo Metal 24HR Cream Gel Shadow in "Inked in Pink" and used my finger to pat it all over my eyelid as a base, including and a little over my crease. It's a very sheer colour, so I don't need to worry about it creasing. If you don't like the idea of using your finger, I'd recommend a concealer brush -- their bristles seem to be thicker or stiffer, and I find application easier with them.

Inked my eyelids in pink.

Then, with the Too Faced Bonjour Summer Palette (available as part of the limited edition Pardon My French Makeup Set), I quickly swept "Sand Dollar" from my crease up to my brow bone, then took "Plumeria" -- a pink with a tinge of purple in it -- and packed it onto the centre of my eyelid, using the Real Techniques Base Shader Brush (part of this pack). Then, with the other side of the brush, I put "Firefly" (a kind of burnt copper) on my outer v and inner corner, using the MAC 215 to smudge it out across my lower lashline.

I'm a shadowy girl, guys.
(Yeah, it's a day for bad jokes.)

Next up is liner. I feel like no look these days is complete without a wing. I created mine using the Maybelline Eye Studio Hyper Glossy Liquid Liner, which really is my favourite of every liner I've got. NARS, Too Faced, MAC -- forget it, this is the top dog for me! Then I used the Estee Lauder Automatic High Pencil Duo in "Jet Black" to line both my top and bottom waterlines. You obviously shouldn't feel compelled to go out and buy an Estee Lauder liner, but I like its lasting power -- by all means, however, use your favourite crayon eye liner and go nuts with it.

Once I was happy that my liner was on point, I used several coats of Rimmel's Wonder'full Mascara on my top and bottom lashes. I've got a review on this mascara in the works, but the bottom line of it is: I really like it.

Forever getting mascara on my eyelids.

When I looked at my eyes, I felt like I was missing something, so with my pinky finger I tapped a little "Champagne Truffle" from the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette along my brow bone, to give it a bit of highlight.

Then.

The shock to end all shocks.

Can you see what's different about my face?

I filled my eyebrows. Yep, even after talking here about how I don't touch my natural caterpillars, I felt that I couldn't waltz into Beautiful You looking anything less than acceptable, so in I went with "Triple Fudge" from the Chocolate Bar Palette with the Real Techniques Brow Brush (which is in the pack I linked earlier). Personally, I can't ever really see a huge difference -- my eyebrows look a little darker, but nothing dramatic or ground-breaking.

After this, it was back to the face. Using my Mecca Cosmetica Powder Brush, I dusted MAC Mineralize SkinFinish Natural in "Medium" over my face -- which is what you do with a finishing powder -- before taking my double-ended Napoleon Perdis bronzer/blush brush (which unfortunately isn't available anymore), and contouring my cheekbones lightly with the MAC Bronzing Powder in "Matte Bronze". For blush, I used the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in "Luminous Flush", which is a really cute light, natural pink that stays on my cheeks throughout the day.

My lips were rather dry, so I scrubbed at them with the Mecca Cosmetica Kissable Lips Smoothing Lip Exfoliant (not pictured because, let's face it, I forgot), before applying MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in "Yield to Love" -- this is sold out online, but if you can get your hands on it, Urban Decay's Revolution Lipstick in "Rapture" looks really similar. If you can't, Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in "Piccadilly Pink" looks like it might be a good drugstore dupe.

Ta-daaaah! The finished article!

As far as clothes go, you can only really wear this with light colours. I was wearing a dark green shirt which, despite being stylish, didn't quite fit with the makeup -- so to fix it, I wore a white blazer over the top.

My hair was also pretty easy: I plaited the front two sections and tied them together at the back! My natural hair is Hermione Granger, so I did have to brush the bejeezus out of it to make a little more tame. To give it a little more structure within its structure, I plaited the main length of my hair into two plaits on the journey there, then undid them and hoped for it to behave itself!

So, what do you think? Did you like this look? What would you do to make it more "spring" or "autumn" appropriate? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Sarah xo